I suppose alot of my negative opinion of the tweaking stems from the fear of them screwing it up, much like the Star Wars Special Editions (which I find unwatchable)..

What I think will happen is they will replace the space stuff with "improved" visuals. However, the rest of the show is going to still remain dated and, at times, very low budget like the alien planets (often times a white backdrop colored by lights). So the next step, following their intent to improve/update the visuals, would then be to replace the skies and possibly some of the sets. So almost everything outside of the actual actors would then need to be replaced/enhanced - a huge, difficult task. Then you run into the aliens, which are rubber suits or optical effects... so are they then to be replaced with digital counterparts?

In addition, putting in new footage/fx would have to stay true to the original look, feel and design. The show Enterprise suffered from this, I feel. It was supposed to be set before the original series, but the look and designs did not fin in at all. If anything, it looked more advanced. The live action (actors) footage screams of the 60s and I don't think you can get beyond that (or would I want it to).

If they DID go in and do complete new set replacements and brought the low budget tv show more towards today's standards and looks AND did it well, then I suppose on a new level, it could be very cool. However, the quality would need to be spot on. It'd be a shame if they simply replaced cheap looking practical with cheap looking digital. Being the jaded pessimist that I am, my money goes to seeing cheap digital. The use of CG opens another possible hurdle - the quality of CG & compositing changes on a yearly basis, sometimes even monthly. What looks cutting edge one year may look outdated the next. This isn't always the case, but it happens more often than you'd think. ST: Next Generation is a good example. When it was on TV, I thought at the time the space stuff was incredible looking. If you look at it now, it looks more like out-of-the-box CG. Technology and techniques have changed and improved since. So in order to have a better lasting screen life, the studio would need to spend the money on a facility that could an absolute great job. It being television, I don't see that happening.

Trek was always very much The Stage brought to the screen (especially with Shatner's presence). Atleast that's how I viewed and enjoyed it - that was part of the charm. In the end, I say don't risk messing it up. Preserve what was done before. I'd hate it if they went back and replaced the 1933 King Kong with CG.....

This one hits a little close to home, but in the end I think its more of a comment to the decision makers/filmmakers than to the artists making the actual FX. Yeah, I can go with that outlook.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Note 1: The term "CGI" is never used with the FX Industry. Ever. It's simply "CG".Note 2: "True, Alien 3 was actually the first movie in the series to feature extensive CGI-created aliens..." This is false. Alien 3 was possibly the last special fx movie to be made before the Digital Era hit. The fx are optical and practical. The only CG element in the film with the Alien is when the Alien's head dome cracks at the end. Every other time you see the Alien, it is either a man-in-suit or a rod puppet. The reason why the Alien looks so bad is the compositing is off...and the animation....and the creature design....

Godamnit! Why can't people fucking leave shit well enough alone?! CBS/Paramount is going to rerelease the original STAR TREK TV series (on HDTV) but replacing the opening credits and any space/spaceship shot with CG. WTF? Just leave it how it is!!! What's next? Replacing the sets? CG animated tribbles? Look what you've started, Lucas!!!!!JIMSMASH!!!!!!

I mentioned the possibility months ago, but it looks like some douchebag in power made it happen. Not satisfied enough with destroying the Terminator Franchise with the 3rd outing, they are now moving the mythos to television with "The Sarah Connor Chronicles". Set after T2, the series will showcase Sarah Connor and her son, John, on the run. Hopefully, they will be constantly hunted by a tabloid newspaper reporter, ala The Incredible Hulk. The series sounds great, since its between T2 and T3, so we'll be able to watch Sarah Connor die of cancer and John become the useless pussy we all came to love in T3. Terminators are nothing - but a vetenarian with a dog cage? Hoo-boy, watch out! In a surprising move, none of the actors from the 3 films are touching this project. When Edward "The Crow 4" Furlong turns it down, you KNOW its going to be quality! I wonder how often a timetravelling terminator will show up? Or the series is cancelled! Place your bets!----------------------------------------------------------------------------*1st person to defend T3 gets a wet willy.

Behold the bronze cast statue depicting TomKat's first poop! That's right, you may not have seen the little spawn of Tom Cruise and L. Ron Hubbard (and organic incubator Katie Holmes), but now you can see her shit immortalized! The scatological scuputre is purportedly cast from 19-week old Suri's first bowel movmenet and will be shown at the Capla Kesting gallery in Brooklyn, NY before beign auctioned off for charity. And they say Galleries get a bad rap nowadays. The "artist" behind the work, Daniel Edwards, previously made the nude Britney Spears Statue depicting her little brat poking out the rear. I think he has a future in making crap for Spencer's Gifts!

Check it: The rubber snakes used in making SNAKES ON A PLANE are going to be auctioned off for charity (Animal Rights)! American Humane monitors animal safety on film sets and is known for it's "no animals were harmed" disclaimer in the credits. The snakes will be auctioned off at auction.newline.com and bids can be placed for the next two weeks, ending Sept 12. Among the items up for auction are a 53-inch cottonmouth and a 40-inch coral snake - which cost up to $12,000 to create. What? That thing better be radio controlled and have some A.I. to it! Good grief.----------------------*thanks, Karen!

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Today's "Hero of the Day" goes to Jonathon Edington(pic). Edington climbed through a neighbor's bedroom window after being told by a family member that the man had molested his 2-year old daughter, and then stabbed him to death (approx 12x) .

(Boy, I sure hope the neighbor was actually guilty...well, for justice's sake, if that makes sense....cause its awful if she was molested. Bad situation either way)--------------------(source)

Yesterday, Aug 29, was the 1 year anniversary of the Katrina Disaster. Can you believe its been a year already? Last night I caught a good chunk of Spike Lee's documentary "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" and I'm glad I did. The disaster seems to have come and gone from our attention and this was a welcome reminder, especially because it isn't over. While I'm not the biggest Spike Lee fan, I found this film to be well done and executed. Lee stays behind the camera and allows survivors to simply tell their stories of what they went through and what has transpired this past year. The images we all saw on the news are still extremely powerful and the film is emotional, educational and interesting. It's 4hrs long, but I never once became bored or uninterested. I highly recommend watching it, or even parts of it.

I've bashed it before, but the poster is now upon us - the stupid unnecessaryremake of REVENGE OF THE NERDS. God, its times like this I'm ashamed to be apart of the Hollywood machine. I'd go off on why this is a stupid idea, but I think John said it best:

"I think this is a stupid idea because "Nerds" doesn't mean what it used to mean. Times have changed... the term "nerd" doesn't carry the same stigma that it used to back in the glorious 80's. The thing is... way back when Revenge of the Nerds was out... we could associate with it. We either were those characters on screen... or we certainly knew them. The "Nerd" back then, is a slightly different creature than what is a "Nerd" today... and so is how they're looked at and treated (just in my opinion). I'm not saying it's TOTALLY different now... but different nonetheless. I'm just not sure a movie like this can connect with the audience the same way the original did. To be honest... all this poster does is make me want to run out and rent the original Revenge of the Nerds."

Yeah, what he said!JIMSMASH!!Go rent the original REVENGE OF THE NERDS this weekend!It's still fantastic!!---------------------(quote source)

Think you're a Star Wars fan and super dork? Do you destroy all who dare play you in the SW Trivia Game, losing friends and damaging relationships in the process? Well did you know THESE fun tidbits of SW Trivia?

* David Lynch was originally offered the chance to direct this episode of the series. He turned it down because he believed it was "Lucas' thing." David Cronenberg was also offered the chance to direct.

* During the shot in which Salacious Crumb is chewing off C-3P0's eye, Anthony Daniels had a panic attack while in the C-3P0 suit. While filming, he didn't actually say his lines (all his lines were dubbed in post-production anyway), but repeated "Get me up. Get me up." over and over. This take is the take used in the final film.

* Mark Hamill's wife gave birth to their first son (Nathan Hamill) early one morning, and Mark went straight from the hospital to shooting. This was the day they filmed the shots of Luke hanging by the weather vane below Cloud City, on Bespin.

* The voiceover line "The first transport is away" during the Rebel evacuation is delivered by Mark Hamill.

* The scenes where R2-D2 is submerged in the mud pool were shot in George Lucas' unfinished swimming pool. Most of the crew was hidden under the water and the entire sequence was allegedly shot by George Lucas himself.

* Costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers says that the inspiration for Leia's slave outfit came from the artwork of Frank Frazetta, which often focused on the female form.* One of the original ideas for Lando Calrissian was to have him as a clone who survived the Clone Wars. Another idea featured Lando as the descendant of survivors of the Clone Wars, born into a family who reproduced solely by cloning. Originally, his name was "Lando Kadar."

Man, DC has just announced that as of Oct 11 and the newly relaunched Wonder Woman issue #3, WW will be published on a bi-monthly schedule! Uhh! Why? Because it's now being written by Alan Heinberg, of the O.C. fame and apparently he's unable to keep a monthly schedule. Wow, if only all of us could do our jobs in twice the time and still keep our jobs and be praised for it! Here's a crazy idea: Have COMIC BOOK writers write comic books and have HOLLYWOOD writers write crappy Teen TV shows! If ya can't handle the monthly, then don't, buddy - do a miniseries, one-shot or graphic novel. This is also DC's fault for putting him on the monthly as well as promoting and publishing a book that was not ready for monthly. Booo.

Heinberg's Young Avengers over at Marvel is right on the edge between greatness and collapsing into poop, and thankfully leaning more towards the cool side - geeky fingers crossed. But so far, with 2 issues out on the stands, his Wonder Woman has been boring.I mean, Diana isn't even WW for godsake - its Donna Troy (to explain this would take forever, so just go with the rant). Wonder Woman has been a personal fav of mine since like age 3 (seriously). And to 1)have it go bimonthly and 2)not even really be Wonder Woman bums me out. Oh, the horrible drama a fanboy must endure!!!!

Atleast Adam Hughes will be helming an "All-Star Wonder Woman" soon... maybe if they alternate months, I can still get my monthly fix! Although with his track record, there's a good chance it's going to be a T&A book. Argh!!!

Hmmm, at what point in my life did the possibility of being remotely cool just vanish?

Man, dig these killer pics! It's a Halcyon ALIENS model put together by our very own jimsmasher ANDREW GLAZEBROOK! He took his "asthma inhaler and fired a couple of jets of it into the beam of [his] slide projector behind the model, then took a half second exposure of the model." As you can see, the result is freaking awesome! He's a very talented modeler/model maker and has a couple nice blogs himself; Glazy and BeStillMyBlogOfWar! Extra note: His Jabba model on Glazy rocks and I've had a few people around the office already ask me if he takes commissions! Well, Andrew?

1) It's mostly crap2) I'm rarely home enough to watch TV3) TimeWarner just took out the two monopoly companies (Adelphiass and Comcunt)and became a single giant beast of a monopoly. Boooo!!!4) It's mostly crap

Sept 12, the original theatrical version of Star Wars will be out on DVD - FINALLY. Of course, Lucas being the stubborn man that he is, will only make the dvd available as a bonus disc to the 2004 Special Edition. WTF?

Anyway, click here to see shot-by-shot guide to the visual differences between the 1977 Gem and the 2004 abomination. Outside of a handful of shots (slight set extensions primarily), I prefer the original version.--------------------*thanks, Melchy!

Do you have a favorite comics shop where you like to buy your weekly goodies? A place you know so dearly you often mistake it for home? Well Dark Horse Comics is having a contest so you can vote for yours and win stuff for yourself and your fav comic shop! If you don't have a fav comic shop, that's ok, you can vote for Lisa's store, NEPTUNE COMICS! Not only is her store cool, but she's also a fellow JimSmasher!

Ok, anyone else scratching their heads a bit on this list? No Daredevil or Thor? But Elektra and Spider-Woman? 2 Minor characters who are not really classified as "heroes". How about Sue Storm (Invisible Woman) or Storm? I sense Marvel pushing their upcoming movie projects with this. Boo. Also, all White characters. Let's show some diversity.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

I had to post this just for the pic alone.Sad story actually....Teens think house is haunted... drive by... crazy owner shoots at car... critically wounds one cheerleader and gives her brain damage and partial paralysis.... (more)

But look at the dude!!!!!

"It's really something how homeowners defend themselves and the way the laws are written. We're the ones brought up on charges while the perpetrators get little or nothing," Mr Weirdo said.

Earlier I posted the hilarious internet-only spot of Messin With Sasquatch (here). Clickhere to see the others!The Salt Shaker one is diff't from the one on TV, so click here to see the other version.----------------*thanks, Eric!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Earlier I posted about the release of which Transformers will be in the upcoming live-action movie and my disappointment in the choices, or lack thereof. So I thought I'd add to that by listing those characters I wanted to see in the first movie (based on the hope of sequels galore). I broke it down to main characters and then those side characters that aren't necessarily in the forefront, but ARE there (background, cameos, etc). Oh, and each character would appear as they are supposed to; cartoon/animated movie incarnations.

Now forget the whole game aspect... Instead of Marvel pumping out lame live-action movies, they should be doing full-length 3D animated movies similar to the look & feel of this. Smooth out the animation, tweak the modeling and amp it up slightly and they'd be golden. With animation, you're not as limited with budgetary constraints and over-priced actors as with live-action. The skies and imagination is the limit! Imagine the Dark Phoenix Saga done this way, but with the art direction looking like Byrne's artwork!! Oh man!!!---------------------*thanks, Maker!

Below is an excerpt from the comic one-shot HULK: THE END,set hundreds of years in the future.

-------------------

"When the Government proposed the "Costumed Adventures Memorial Park," after all the casualties during the Hell on Earth War, I never thought it would actually happen... much less last. But it did. They're all laid to rest here... those who fell during Hell on Earth, and then those in the Outer World War... even those who just went from old age. All here. All gone. And none of them lived to see... after everything they went through to protect Humanity from Alien enemies, from evil forces who wanted to enslave or eliminate Mankind... none of them lived to see Mankind fall beneath the one enemy humans were helpless before: other humans. But.. he saw. Not only that... but he derived a sort of grim satisfaction from it. As if somehow seeing Mankind destroying itself was some sort of validation of the opinion he'd held for so long. The Hulk didn't care that the initial bombings were the results of terrorists acting outside government mandates. He didn't care that no one wanted war... but that retaliation was the only possible response. He didn't care that it all spiraled out of control. He didn't care about millions upon millions of innocent people dying. He didn't care that the remaining heroes, the Defenders of Mankind, died in these blasts. Just as did their villainous opponents, because Nuclear Holocaust doesn't care about good guys and bad guys. He cared about two things, and two things only: about being the strongest one there is. And being left alone. It never struck the Hulk as unusual that others died of old age while he kept going. Somehow, to him, it seemed... "right." It was his healing ability, of course, which repaired damage to his body at an accelerated rate, and to mine, albeit somewhat more slowly and far less efficiently. And all the radiation being released from the Last World War, why... it made him all the stronger. He didn't care about that either, though. The noise of explosions, however, and the cries of the dead... and the dying... these things bothered him. Whether they offended his sense of order, or jabbed at his conscience, or just served as an annoyance... I really couldn't say. All I know is that he wanted to distance himself from it. So, as he had so many times before, he returned to New Mexico -- to the place of his birth -- to the Gamma Cave... and he sealed us in. And there we stayed, until all the shouting died down, not using much energy... and, so, not requiring much in the way of sustenance. There was a natural spring running though the cave, although I suspect that it was contaminated by radiation. Not that that bothered the Hulk, of course... although it, along with the free floating rads, had a slow, visible effect on him. I have no idea how long we remained there... the Hulk in seclusion, me and unwilling prisoner... And then one day..."

--Bruce Banner.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The original comic is a bit pricey, but its been recently reprinted in the Giant-Size Hulk #1, on sale now at your local comic book shop (or order from Lisa at NeptuneComics!).

Rich sent me this to coincide with the Armor of God post! It's from a comic parody mag in the 70s... I think National Lampoon. I remember in the 7th grade a teacher took away my Nat'l Lampoon mag because he said it was porn. And the principal backed him up! WTF?Anyway, this cover rocks.Click on it to enlarge, heathens!

Last month I posted about the cover to CIVIL WAR: X-MEN #2 and bashed it because of the blatant Manga imagery. Well, it's been brought to my attention that the unwanted imagery was not the artist's fault, but was put upon from above (read: Editor). So apologies for the harsh words. Well, atleast to the writer and artists on the book. The editor can still suck it.

So I picked up issue 2, despite the cover, and thankfully quite enjoyed it! In fact, the "Shogun Warrior" on the cover isn't even inside the book. Sure, the Sentinels are too anime/manga-fied for my tastes (thanks again Mr Editor), but if you imagine them normal, you'll be ok. The X-Men are in an odd place during this crossover since its primarily set in the "regular" Marvel Univ (The X-Men have usually been kind of off to the side in their own "world"), and I've been curious how Marvel was going to handle them in Civil War, particularily because of their past dealings with the Mutant Registration Act. Hine, Paquette and Team's handling of 4 of the original 5 X-Men (Cyclops, Beast, Angel & Iceman) made me wish for an ongoing with just those characters, ala the 80s X-Factor (which rocked, btw). Yanick's nice visual depictions of Emma, Cylcops, Iceman and Angel deserve mentioning, too. The black costumes totally work - where were you during Morrisson's New X-Men run, man?!! Also, I've always been a fan of CALIBAN when he first made his appearance as a Horseman of Apocalypse back in New Mutants #91(?). Yes, that version was redesigned by Rob Liefeld and I actually liked it. Unfortunately, he's never been drawn cool since. But Yanick's take on the character was sweet and I hope to see more - possibly in his red/white horseman gear?!!

If the cover threw you off and hindered you picking the book up, don't let it ruin the fun. Pick it up if you haven't already.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Civil War: X-Men #2 is written by David Hine, pencilled by Yanick Paquette, inked by Serge LaPointe and colored by Stephane Peru. It's also edited by Mike "Manga" Marts.

There's been a recent trend of recreating movie posters into 3D dioramas. Star Wars, Jaws, Friday the 13th to name a few. I don't get it. They seem lame and who cares? If I like the movie poster, then I'll just buy the movie poster. Well, now McFarlane Toys is making one of ALIEN and I can't wait! Hahaha! I'm so getting this. It comes out in November.

Well, we all knew it was enevitable... they are remaking THUNDERCATS.But don't worry, it's actually worse than you think:---WB animation is remaking the Thundercats as an animated TV series. The animation style is whimsical, Americanized-anime, along the lines of Teen Titans. The setting is modern-day Earth, in a major city (possibly LA) The Thundercats are all teenagers. Their leader is Snarf (!) who is now a mystic with a "third" eye. Each of the Thundercats has a weapon with an "Eye of Thunderra" and transformative powers (not just Lion-O) When they aren't fighting evil, the Thundercats play together as a rock band. That's not a typo, or a joke. They are rockin' cats in their present form. Mum-Ra now has wings. (source)---No word yet if they'll include the coming-of-age sex scene between lil Lion-O and Cheetara.

"I'm thinking about taking that new chick, Cheetara. If things go right I might be showing her my O-face. You know: Oh. Oh."